Brightest Light in the Darkest Shadow
by KuyouFox
Summary: When paths differ from the norm, the butterfly effect will come into play. What will occur once Madara shifts his plans into something that no one ever expected to shift to? The Box of Paradise? What will happen to the Fourth Shinobi War now? Naruto / Ryuuzetsu (Movie Girl)
1. Chapter 1

**I'm back for another story, Brightest Light in the Darkest Shadow! *Cheering in the background***

**A few things you need to know before you begin to read the story:**

**-This is a Naruto / Ryuuzetsu pairing only.**

**-The story will start off (If you follow the anime at least, I'm not sure about the Manga though) two days after the Kisame incident, and his subsequent death.**

**-Naruto does know the Bijuu Cloak (Yellow and black chakra surrounding his body from Kyuubi / Kurama), but won't be able to use it much, and that path will be described later on in this chapter actually.**

**-The war reached a lull after the first wave of Edo Tensei Shinobi and Kunoichi coming sooner and being taken on sooner than what canon has the timeframe being with no Zetsu Clones being involved in the wave. Like the previous statement stated, this will be detailed later on with it partially being in this chapter mainly because I don't want to give many spoilers about the story so it won't just be said right here, but more on it within five chapters. **

Symbols Key:

"Yo!" - Regluar Dialogue

'What's up?' - Thoughts

_Italics_ - Letters, Whispers, Low Voices or Added Emphasis to Certain Words.

Jutsu (Translation) - For Jutsu (obviously).

**XXX-XXX **- Scene Breaks, with the occasional word or two underneath to whow where the scene is taking place at.

**Disclaimer: I will be stating this once and once only as I find it a pain in the ass to consistently state the same few words over and over again: I do not own anything that Kishimoto owns, involving Naruto Shippuden, Naruto, and Naruto: The Blood Prison. I do however have claim to some of the jutsu and the plotline as far as I know but hey, I won't be making any money from it so who cares about that!**

**I believe that's it so, here's Chapter One of Brightest Light in the Darkest Shadow -**

**Chapter One - Incarceration at Houzoukijou (The Blood Prison)**

"No... This can't be right... Maybe the messenger bird got the wrong message..." Yamato muttered to himself as he read the scroll that a messenger bird had flown in. The small bird stared and flapped its wings at the pale Jounin indignantly as if it was insulted that it had made a mistake.

The message itself was baffling enough, but Yamato had no chance but to follow the orders on it as the message itself had the seal on the back of it from Tsunade that would remotely summon a slug, showing that it was not a fake.

_Your mission regarding Naruto Uzumaki is finished and the war is finished, yet have the war remain a secret from Naruto Uzumaki for the moment. Return home immediately with Naruto Uzumaki's chakra blocked and detained regardless if he is making any headway with using the Kyuubi no Kitsune's power._

_-Gondaime Hokage, Tsunade Senju_

With a sigh leaving his mouth, he turned towards the center of the eternally swimming island to break the news that they were ordered to return home with one thought in his mind.

How was he going to explain to Naruto about the _way_ they were supposed to return?

**XXX-XXX**

"Eh?" Was the eloquent reply of Naruto Uzumaki when he heard that they were supposed to return back with Yamato not omitting any point except for keeping the war a secret. Several thoughts raced through the blond's mind, the forefront of them being; What about my S-Rank Mission? Will it count as a fail towards my record? Wait a second... I have to return with my chakra blocked and detained?!

Naruto tensed almost immediatedly after the thought of being detained passed through his mind and was digested thoroughly. Now, Naruto Uzumaki was in no way an imbecile. How could he create such effective battle plans and have incredible insight in battle if he was an imbecile? If he was, he would have been murdered in his first C-Rank gone A-Rank mission.

No, he understood people and he did it decently well. It only took him a few moments to process the words and figure them out but he did understand. He only hid it unconsciously with his happy and boistrous personality. When he had thought about why people always underestimated and he deduced that his personality was the culprit. After thinking about it, he remembered a part of the greatest Ninja advice that the Sandaime Hokage had imparted to the blond when he was younger.

Don't underestimate anyone and you'll live a longer life as a result of it.

Those words had stuck with Naruto, and even though he had forgotten them on occasion, he had never forgotten them entirely. Now, those same words flared in his mind like a bright red sign and he stared at Yamato, studying his every movement.

Even though the only people around him were teammates and comrades, when Yamato had repeated the words from the scroll he had recieved, everyone turned to stare at the blond. As it was, Yamato had to try to defuse the situation and hope that he recieved help in defusing the sitatuation before the blond ran away or attacked when Yamato was forced to detain him the hard way, "Naruto-san, this came from an order from Hokage-sama herself. As much I dislike it I don't want to have to be forced to do so, but orders are orders."

"'Ey yo Naru-to, just take the wood man's plans and follow them, yeah." Bee rapped, reducing the tense atmosphere and helped calm the blond down enough to see reason in his words... Even if the rapping was terrible in everyone's opinion. Naruto nodded, and straightened his posture from the slightly hunched position he was in that was perfect for both running and being ready to either block or dodge an attack.

Yamato shot Bee a grateful look and walked towards Naruto with wood growing from the palm of his hands and wrapping around Naruto's outstretched hands as he uttered, "Mokuton: Mokusei tejō (Wood Release: Wooden Handcuffs)." The pale Jounin let out a relieved sigh, "Alright, I believe that you're fine without leg restraints so let's just go along with the handcuffs and go see what the fuss is about."

Aoba, Motoi and Gai all nodded, being incredibly quiet throughout the dialogue shared between the trio until Gai spoke up in a serious tone they thought they wouldn't have to hear since Kisame's death two days ago.

"I wonder why Tsunade-sama wants Naruto-kun back detained..." Everyone, including Naruto, thought along those lines coming up with on singular thought.

There was no reason for it to happen that they knew of.

**XXX-XXX**

Timeskip - Two Weeks, Tsunade's Office

"Oi, oi, Tsunade-baa-chan, what's up with... having me... cuffed?" Naruto's inquisitive voice rang out from the darkened room of the only to discover that Tsunade wasn't the only _Kage_ in the room. Sitting next to Tsunade was the Raikage, A, and the Tsuchikage, Onoki whom were both staring at the blond with a hard, unwavering glare as if he was responsible for something... against the law.

Naruto watched as Tsunade brought her gaze up from the ground and almost flinched at the sight that was held by them, something he didn't expect to see ever again from when he was younger.

Her stare was filled with both utter and endless sorrow, and unadulterated rage at him and it had instantly sent him reeling as if she had slugged him with one of her stronger punches across Konoha. "T-Tsunade-baa-chan... what's wrong and why is two other Kage here?" Naruto actually flinched this time when both Kages snarled at him in conjunction to Tsunade's sorrowful shake of her head.

"Onoki and A are here to exact a fitting punishment for you, along with myself, for the murder of several of their Jounin that you had comitted not fifteen days ago."

A pen dropped at that moment from Tsunade's desk, and the sound was the most deafening to Naruto's ears. He had murdered several Jounin? Fifteen days ago? No, he was innocent! How could he have done so when he was in the middle of the ocean?

After a few moments of shock running unfiltered from his system, Naruto thought it was a well-planned joke, "Eh-heh, this is a joke, right? R-Right Tsunade-baa-chan?"

His face grew white when Tsunade's face seemed to lose the sorrow that was placed within them, and her face was filled with anger. "This is no time for joking around Naruto! You have been convicted of murder with several witnesses, including the use of trying to frame _OTHER_ Shinobi in the process using the Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Technique). Have you anything to say for your crimes?" With each word that she had said, it dug a knife deeper and deeper into his heart. He numbly tried to protest, yet was savagely cut off by A.

"No! This little runt has no fucking excuse for murdering my Shinobi when there are witnesses to him doing it and even fleeing when the Henge fell off!" In the corner of the room, both Bee and Yamato walked up on either side of Naruto with an expressive face, showing different emotions at once.

"This is not right at all. He was with us on the island the whole time!" Bee protested with an outraged expression on his face, not even rapping for once when he usually rapped everything that came out of his mouth.

Yamato nodded his head, "I agree Hokage-sama, Naruto was on the Island with us the whole time. Motoi can even attest to this as he is a sensor and made sure Naruto was on the Island the entire time we were there."

"I think not." The rough, deep voice came from Onoki who had been silent up till now, "The brat could have just as easily sent some of his reinforced solid clones through the water during the fight against Kisame towards my own village and then sent the same clones to Kumogakure."

Tsunade curtly nodded, "Naruto, with the agreement of the Tsuchikage and the Raikage, you will be sent to Houzukijou (The Blood Prison) in Kusagakure for your crimes, the one prison that all five Kage both support and sanction as all dangerous Shinobi and Kunoichi are sent there."

She leveled her gaze towards Yamato purposefully, and he caught her meaning even if he did not want to follow through with it. He quickly detained the shell-shocked blond with Mokuton: Shichurou (Four-Pillar Prison). A small wooden cage binded both his hands and legs in a locked position before Naruto could react to their words and whispered under his breath, "I'm sorry Naruto..."

Tsunade rose from her seat, and walked up to the blond, staring at him intently before darting her hand out and snatching the Konoha Hitai-ate from his forehead and slamming a paper with the Kanji for 'Seal'on the wooden crate, directly made from Jiraiya before he died in case Naruto even lost control of Kyuubi's chakra. _'I'm sorry Naruto-kun but I can't do anything to get you out of this with two other Kage breathing down my neck...'_

"Take him away."

Several Anbu appeared next to the wooden confines holding Naruto in place and exited the room with the blond in tow with five low, quiet and meaningful words that were completly out of character for a normal Naruto hanging in the air that would haunt the occupants of the room, especially the three Kage, for a long time when they realized the full extent of what they had done.

"I didn't do it baa-chan..."

**XXX-XXX**

Unknown Area

"Kabuto, do you know anything regarding the Box of Ultimate Bliss, or as it is called now, the Box of Paradise?" Madara's deep, low voice questioned the medic-nin standing next to him with a snake hissing inside the robe with a hood that he was wearing.

Kabuto cocked his head to the side, wondering if the Uchiha Patriarch was serious in his question. The medic-nin decided to procede with caution and act like it was a serious question, "I have heard both rumours and myths about the Box of Paradise. About how it is fabled to grant any wish from the user that awakens it but no one knows where it is, or even how _to_ awaken the fabled box if they did have it in their possession."

Madara let out a small, dark chuckle that made Kabuto's senses go haywire with danger being the most prominent that was interpreted, "The so-called _fabled_ Box of Ultimate Bliss does, in fact exist. By itself, it was nearly able to conquer the world by controlling what existed _inside_ the box." Madara's voice carressed the words about the box, "In fact, I know where the Box exists right now and the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki will be used to awaken the box itself."

"Ah, but how are you going to get Naruto at the place where the Box is hidden at?" Kabuto asked, his curiousity winning over any warnings that his body attempted to tell him to flee and leave the madman alone.

"That will be no problem as he is already going to be detained at the very place where it is hidden, Houzukijou." A smirk could he heard from his voice as he used Kamui (Authority of the Gods) to disappear into his own dimmesion, leaving a thoroughly interested Kabuto alone to his thoughts.

_'So the Box of Paradise does exist... But why exactly did he need the Bijuu in the first place if he was going to go after the Box?' _The medic-nin mused to himself, _'That also raises another question as to why Madara Uchiha wanted only one wave of the Edo Tenseis... Maybe a distraction or a deflection to his true plan?'_

Kabuto frowned to himself about not knowing Madara's true plan before walking away to his lab and letitng a small smirk grow on his face as a thought hit him.

_'Life will become very... _interesting_ in the coming months...'_

**XXX-XXX**

Four Days Later, Boat to Houzukijou

The elongated rowboat rocked with the raging current, nearly colliding onto the large jagged rocks stretching out of the water and high into the war countless times only for the rowers to regain control at the last second. On one of these boats was Naruto, currently embroiled in his own thoughts of who would want to frame him for murder and desperately trying to push away thoughts of his 'Baa-chan's' glares that were staring down at with the authority of a god. Thankfully he had a reprieve from pushing those thoughts away when he heard several of the prisoners in the same boat as him mutter between each other.

"I've heard Houzukijou is impossible to break out of..."

"No shit dumbass. There's a reason it's sanctioned and even supported by the Five Kage." another violently spat out, looking like the typical 'shady' dealer type.

The prisoner who had talked before then thankfully added, "At least we don't have to worry about the the War." This comment piqued Naruto's curiousity to no end. A war happening? Did Tsunade know about it and if she did, why would she hide it?

Only, when he attempted to ask the prison had came into view from the hazy mist that surrounded the area. He stared at the large, imposing, walled prison with several large towers along with the outline of tiled roofs near the towers that looked almost like a large compound that one of the older clans would use for their high clan population. A shiver ran down his spine before determination calmed his body as one thought raced through his mind, completely missing the intent stare that one such prisoners were studying the blond with.

_'Get out and find the imposter.'_

**XXX-XXX**

"Attention!" A large, rotund man dutifully stated with tinted classes and the green uniform worn by all the guards with a red bar on each shoulder, a belt holding the shirt in place, green pants and black boots. The guards all surounded the prisoners with the large, closing wooden gate at the prisoner's backs, with the four carrying Naruto's crate setting him down. "The master of Houzukijou, Mui-sama, will now speak. Listen carefully!"

An opening between the guards occurred that a tall man, Mui, strode through from the stone confines of the Prison. He himself was at least a head taller than the rotund man who announced Mui's presence. Mui wore a long black cape that covered his burgendy robes with yellow tassles off of his shoulders that went up to his neck and down to his feet that were concealed by his black boots. His face was wrinkled under his eyes that suggested a life of worry or stress, cheeks somewhat sucked in, black hair that ran down his neck that had a strand dangling over his left, dark grey eye.

"I'm Mui, the person in charge here. The fact that you were sent here means that you have lost the faith of your village." Mui shifted his head to eye the prisoners before speaking once again, "Henceforth, I'd like you to keep in mind that you are all worthless-"

Naruto could not take it anymore and he erupted i nthe middle of Mui's speech, "I was set up! I didn't do anything!" The prisoners around him gaped silently at the blond's proclamation from inside the box.

However, the rotund man did not stay silent, "Don't speak unless spoken to!" Mui silenced him with a wave of his gloved hand and turned his full attention to the blonde.

"You're saying that someone conspired to send you here?" Mui asked.

"My village is in trouble and if I don't find out who did it then they will hurt the people in my village!"

Miu slowly walked forward towards the caged blond, "The villages of the world have tasked us with the mission of never allowing anyone they send here to escape." The black-haired man stood in front of the cage and tore off the paper that was holding the wooden crate in place, making it disappear in a puff of smoke. "We couldn't care less about your circumstances."

Nauto gleefully jumped up with a devious smile on his face that he would be able to escape, yet the dream shattered when Miu formed one hand-seal and shouted, "Katon: Tenrou (Fire Release: Heavenly Imprisonment)!" He brought his right fist back that filled with red fire and slammed it forward onto the blond's sternum. With a burst of fire chakra, he was blasted back into the gate where he fell in a crumpled heap onto the cold, hard ground. The prisoners all gasped and stared in shock at how easily the blond had been dispatched.

"This is a confinement technique that has been passed down in my clan. It is the sole reason why Kusagakure has been entrusted with managing Houzukijou. As long as that seal is on your body, you will not be able to mold chakra, be it from an internal source or not." During his speech, Naruto struggled into a sitting position, barely managing it while pulling up his jacket to view the flaring red seal that stretched from his stomach to his back.

Mui raised up his hand to better demonstrate his point, and lifted two fingers, "There are only two ways to leave this place. The first is for your village to offically request for your release. The second is death."

Even though Mui had explained what the seal did, Naruto still had to attempt to break free and this was a golden chance that might not appear again, "Heh, now that I can move around you're done for!" He called inwards towards Kurama and was engulfed in a yellow chakra coating that flickered as though flames were licking the air around him with black bars where the spirals were on his shoulders, on the black portion of his orange and black jacket, and a black bar traveling down towards his sandals. An oppressive feeling filled the air around him, making it hard to breath for everyone around.

_'I may not have any control, but it's my only hope...'_ Naruto thought to himself as he took a step forwards to flash towards Mui but fell down onto the ground with the cloak receding, the seal reacting with the Kyuubi's chakra and burning Naruto in response to using the internal chakra source. He gasped in agony as the seal pulsed, sending violent, burning responses throughout his body. _'W-What is this?' _he mentally struggled to gain his bearings while Mui continued on, unperturbed that Naruto's Bijuu Cloak was a result of him having control over the Kyuubi's power.

"Impressive. I did not expect you to have control over your inner chakra source so early in age, but don't I wouldn't attempt to escape even with that chakra Cloak." He conversationally added in a neutral voice, "If you get a certain distance away from me, Tenrou (Heavenly Imprisonment) will activate and burn you into a crisp." The blond Jinchuuriki struggled to stay conscious and looked up towards the towering figure of Mui with the darkened clouds in the background that seemed to be a constant of the scenery. Along the way towards Mui's face, he caught the chuckling face of the rotund man along with the guards, the shocked and thoroughly scared prisoners with the exception of one, effeminate looking one that shot him minimally worrying and pitying glance before it vanished in an indifferent expression.

"While we're at it, know this as well: Katon: Tenrou cannot activate underwater as it is a fire-based technique. However, the ocean is both deep as the currents are vicious around Houzukijou. If you jump in, you _will_ drown before you have any time to mold any chakra." The seal violently pulsated once again to further his point, bringing the blond further into agony with his screams piercing the air.

Escape was, and always will be, futile from Houzukijou.

**XXX-XXX**

The group of prisoners walked in a straight, single file line through the small archway, the etremely large courtyard being on either side of the archway that led into the inner halls of Houzukijou. When they walked into in inner halls of the Prison, the first room was the cellroom where the majority of the prisoners were held. They slowly walked, ignoring the catcalls and the taunts coming from the prisoners held in by the strong, wooden bars of their prison. All of the prisoners, including Naruto, studied the area with either an impassive face or a saddened / fearful look.

Along the way, the rotund man decided to talk, "Once you have Mui-sama's Tenrou placed on you, escape becomes impossible from here! Well, regardless this place is rather nice once you get used to it." He said as they crossed under into the darkened, elongated room where the prisoners' cells were kept, "These are your fellow inmates during your long stay here. But before you can become acquainted with them..." He stopped and jabbed Naruto in the chest, the line still slowly moving, "You will be checked to ensure that you do not have any weapons hidden on your person."

Naruto grunted in response and followed the line, eventually reaching a lighter hallway with a few wooden benches chained to the wall and metal bars on the opposite side of the room. From there, the rotund man alond with two of the guards began picking the prisoners one by one through the metal gate that had two of the guards were stationed next to.

The blond Jinchuuriki sat down onto one of the benches that were chained the to wall, the bench being the closest to the metal gate. When he did sit down, the bench nearly vacated entirely except for a scant few that were either nervous or afraid of being near to the genin. The rest had fallen asleep while waiting for the physical examination. Which they did have a good reason for, the reason being the oppressive aura from the Bijuu Cloak which in all actuality was just condensed chakra from Kyuubi that was spread around Naruto's body.

"So what're you in here for?" A man looking no older than his mid-thirtes, wearing a vest with no undershirt that showed his muscled abs and arms and dark blue pants with medical tape wrapped around the bottom of the pant leg. His hair was a grey color and several of his teeth were knocked out. "Personally, I'm in here for killing a village that had slighted my own from an order from my leader during the War since they wouldn't have had any help. But for some stupid damn reason, I was thrown into here when I didn't kill _one_ innocent child." He grumbled out.

"Sounds like your village is pretty strict." Naruto commented, comparing the man's village to Konoha. He assumed the war he was talking about was just an exaggeration. Anything that big that would affect all of the Elemental Nations and he would have known or at least figured it out given time.

The man scoffed, "Hardly. Any Shinobi order or mission is to be followed to the 'T'. What village where you from?"

"... Konoha." Naruto muttered under his breath.

"Ah-ha-ha!" The man laughing aloud at the confused blonde, "That village is so damn laidback that it's suprising that they even have any strong Shinobi or Kunoichi there!"

Even though Naruto felt like he was betrayed, which he was, by Konoha, he still felt a pang of anger at the man's words, "Konoha... Konoha is a strong village... But it's still the strongest!" The words he said felt like ash in his mouth, yet for some reason, he could not figure out _why_ they did.

The man did have to grudgingly agree with Naruto's words before the prisoner who shot Naruto a pitying look earlier spoke up from not even a few feet away.

"That's enough of that." The man himself, looked to be a woman from both his voice that sounded gruff like a man's but was off in a way that pointed towards a woman's voice and his body. It did send a shiver down Naruto's spine when he did a glance over on him and he found his body to be effeminate. _'He reminds me of Haku-san...' _Naruto almost drly thought to himself as he continued to study the man.

The prisoner though stood around 5'7'', maybe 5'8'' and wore a green undershirt that had one long-sleeve torn off at the shoulder, a _pale_ green vest over the green undershirt that covered his neck. The pants he wore were the typical black Shinobi pants with several pockets along with several holes in it with medical tape tapering off at the hem of them, also having the tape wrapped around both of his hands up to his forearms. His hair cut over the right side of his face, covering it entirely and hiding his right eye but the rest of it was covered by his green, pale green bandana. The eyes though, seemed to be the oddest part of his girlish face. They were like the Rinnegan themselves, but only held two of the four rings and were a few shades lighter, being a grey color.

"This guy is right though, even if he didn't directly say it. Houzukijou is a wretched hive of villainy for those who have lost the support of their village. Like how a thief is just another thief and a murderer is just another murderer. They no longer require an excuse for their actions." He stated as he strolled towards Naruto.

"I don't need any excuse! I was framed!" Naruto proclaimed once again. It seemed that no one believed him in the Prison.

However, at that moment the effeminate prisoner was called in by one of the two guards that had walked in with the large, rotund man. "Oi! You with the bandana! Come here!"

The prisoner began walking forward leaving several words behind, "If you understand what kind of place you are in, try not to dig too deeply into it from now on." He crossed the gate leaving Naruto confused.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto muttered to himself, yet the fellow prisoner heard it as the metal gate closed.

He stopped along with the guard that was walking with him and turned his head slightly towards Naruto, "Think about it." He said before leaving the blond alone to ponder his words that made no sense.

**XXX-XXX**

"Take off your clothes."

Naruto's eyes widened as he heard the rotund man's words, "EHHH?!"

The man clapped a baton in his hands and the guards on either side of Naruto began slowly approaching the freaked-out blond.

"Okay, okay! I'm taking my clothes off!" Naruto hurried to follow his command and was soon standing in only his white with black boxers. The man proceeded with checking every inch of his body other than his crotch, rapping the baton against his semi-muscled frame to check for any concealed weapons that had been hidden either inside or outside the skin. Then proceeding the have Naruto jump on either leg as long as he kept rapping the baton onto his hand.

"Hmm... you're clear." Naruto could not be any happier as he reached for his clothes that the two guards had just went through and not-so thoroughly checked for any weapons. However, Kami was not with Naruto at that moment as the man rapped his baton against Naruto's outstretched hand.

He quickly brought it back while leveling a glare at the man, "What's the deal ossan (Old Man)!?"

Rotund man just chuckled in response before replying to Naruto, "Now take off your boxers."

Naruto's eyes widened once again, "Y-You're kidding right? Right?!" The guards lunged out towards Naruto and yanked his boxers off.

"**EEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHH!**" Naruto's scream echoed throughout the whole of the Prison.

**XXX-XXX**

'_How bad can this day get?'_ Naruto thought to himself as a guard showed him to his wooden cell. If one looked at his experiences that day, one would say that it could not get worse. Such as, getting sealed with Katon: Tenrou and dealing with the subsequent pain from it, being physically checked for any weapons... Including a rectum check.

_'That man must like checking up there for guys...'_ Naruto shivered as he remembered the creepy chuckles the man gave out while... 'checking' Naruto.

Shrugging, the blond sat down onto his makeshift bed that consisted of a bed and a blanktet and fell asleep... Only for a robed assailant appeared in a puff of smoke and knock the shocked Naruto out with a simple karate chop. "Either this kid is a hotshot or just plain stupid for falling asleep in an area he doesn't know." The assailant muttered under his breath while covering his head with a piece of cloth and vanishing in another puff of smoke.

However, Naruto was not just plain stupid for falling asleep in an area he did not know. He had felt someone's stare leveled onto him as a sort of 'Sixth Sense' that all Shinobi and Kunoichi obtain and as such, discreetly made a plan. So when the assailant appeared in the room, Naruto switched with a Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone) that he had hidden in the top corner of the room, hidden by using the shadows as a guise to hide himself from a trick that Jiraiya had taught him.

He jumped off of his position once the puff of smoke disappated from the air and took a glance around the outside of the room to check for any patrolling guards. He found none.

Quickly hurrying for his plan, he took out the key ring he had filtched from the guard just before as he turned away from the cell and unlocked the wooden cell. He took an appraising glance towards the entrance he, and the other prisoners entered from, and towards the other direction where he saw a circular opening in the middle of the dome shaped room on the roof.

Naruto dashed in that direction, missing the analytical glance from the effeminate prisoner from earlier. _'It seems that I was not wrong in my earlier assumption of you...'_

**XXX-XXX**

"..." Naruto stared blankly at the guard asleep at his desk. _'All the better for me!'_ Naruto took one more glance at the guard before locking onto the circular hole in the roof and prayed that the Tenrou would not activate too quickly. He stepped towards the wall in the back of him, thankful that he was already halfway towards the target with his current perch from climbing the cells upwards, and ran up the wall before flexing his leg muscles as hard as he could and rocketed forward with amazing force.

The hole was far away one second then close up in another second, having barely enough time to latch both hands onto the underside of the rim of the circular hole. He quickly flipped and jumped through the hole, now beginning to feel the affects of the Tenrou before loud, shrill alarms rang out in the Prison. Naruto swore loudly, "Damnit!" And continued his hell-bent pace, barreling forward across the roof while weaving, dodging and doing acrobatic feats to avoid the pikes shooting outwards from the roof.

Then the Tenrou hit in full force. With a shuddering gasp and narrowing eyesite that kept becoming narrower and narrower. He tottered like a drunk before falling off on his side in a bout of burning agony, down the side of the tiled roof, onto another and rolling off the side of it to the ground where guards and their watchdogs were patrolling. With loud and vicious snarls, the dogs leapt forward and began tearing and biting at the blacked-out blond before the guards tore them away from the blond. When the prisoners found out about the failed escape, it furthered their misery about the place, leading towards one collective thought.

Escape would not come without terrible risks.

* * *

**Phew, so that is the First Chapter of Brightes Light in the Darkest Shadow! The chapter will be the more heavily Movie based chapters out of all of the rest of them, but the basis of the characters needed to be set that way I could build upon them and mould them in a way so that I can have the desired affects.**

**Well, Review and tell me how the Chapter was, whether you liked it, loved it, hated it, or want to murder me for mangling a good story basis. Tell me about any mistakes I have made so I could fix them!**

**As a warning that you've no doubt found out about, I will be stating the translation of the Jutsu once per chapter, making the first one with the Translation.**

**The next chapter will be out by next weekend at the latest hopefully if you do like the story and it will be longer than this chapter! ****Have a good one!**

**-KuyouFox**


	2. Chapter 2

**Back for another chapter! **

**Thank you all for the good reviews and for the favs / follows! I was honestly suprised at the amount of hits since I thought not many people would search up this pairing. Ah well, I guess that's good for you guys as it keeps me going! Oh, and by the way, this will be the last Movie Dependant chapter as I need the rest of the foundation setup for the story to become truly AU. But don't worry, there will be differences! On another note, thank you for reading this story!**

**Well, here's the Second Chapter of Brightest Light. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: ... Read Chapter One.**

**Chapter Two - The Truth about Houzukijou**

For Naruto, Solitary Confinement was like a hell all upon itself. It was a small cell with only two exits, a small rectangular opening for fresh air and a small door that a prisoner would have to crawl through to even have a chance of getting out. On top of that, the size of the room was not the greatest. Sure you could stretch to your full height as long as you weren't eight feet tall and weren't over two-hundred and fifty pounds regardless of your height but it was cramped. There was barely enough room to even walk two steps and you were on the other side of the stone cell.

As a matter of fact, there was also no other way to get out other than the small metal door as the walls and flooring was all made of stone that was tightly packed in to prevent anyone for chipping and digging away at the rocks. For a person like Naruto, with nothing to do, it was hell. All he was left to do was meditate and think back on previous events.

One such memory he went through was when the Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone) puffed into smoke and the memories from it appeared even thought for the majority of the time was spent being unconscious.

**XXX-XXX**

Flashback - Yesterday Night

After the Kage Bunshin was knocked-out, the cloaked assailant vanished in a puff of smoke along with the clone into Mui's private office. The office itself was nice enough, with a few chairs, a fireplace, large wooden bookshelf, an old wooden desk with various writing utinsels and paperwork on it, even including a lamp on the desk. A balcony overlooking the ocean and a portion of the courtyard along with stairs leading down to the lower levels of Houzukijou as the office was one of the highest altitude rooms in the Prison itself.

The assailant left no time in studying the room he had seen so much of from helping Mui and getting into his good graces, instead, he went to the bookshelf and pushed a blue covered book that was on the third shelf out of the five there. With a loud creaking noise, a secret passage door opened up not a few feet away from the blue covered book. Inside the opening revealed a darkened, stone staircase that followed the wall going far underground with the occasional torch being lit due to several seals meant to detect chakra and lit when detected.

Once again, the claoked assailant had no time to be wasted on mindless studying of the scenery, only on the job at hand. He rushed down the numerous stone stairs, using chakra to stick to the walls and wall-jump downwards. Using this method allowed him to traverse the length of the stairs in under four minutes flat whereas if he were just walking down, it would easily take twenty or more minutes to travel the length of the staircase.

When the stone stairway was cleared, a wooden door with metal reinforcements appeared at the end of them that the assailant went through. From that point on, it was a narrow underground cavern with stalagmites, stalagtites, even a small pool of water off to the side of the rock formations. Yet again, the cloaked assailant rushed ahead and ignored the scenery. After a short time, the stone steps began to curve to the right and the rock wall to the left expanded greatly to show a cavernous room with various scientific devices including test tubes, vials, several containers with an oval-shaped top to them with lightning crackling in them and a metal table with straps on it. Yet the most disturbing sight of them all was how the cavernous room narrowed and ended not fourty yards away from the metal table, showing part of a large stone block.

Now, there wouldn't be anything disturbing at the sight of the block but it was what was _ON_ the box that would disturb people. There was a mask depicted on it with a terrifying, full-toothed grin upon its visage. Its eyes were but horizontal slits between two slabs of the stone mask, its chin was almost like a ball in a way and in the center of its forhead was a large, crystalline-like orb that was set directly into the stone and protuded outwards from the stone and mask. There were various carvings all around the mask, yet it was from a different language, or a very much so older dialect from their own language as parts of it could be translated since it was similar to their Kanji.

Standing next to the metal table was Mui, calmly awaiting the assailant and Naruto's arrival. Within a matter of seconds, Naruto was strapped onto the table and just awakening when he heard the assailant and Mui's voices.

"You took longer than expected." Mui's voice called out to the assailant.

Naruto could almost hear the sheepish head-rub coming from the assailant's deep and scratchy voice from being muffled from the cloth he were wearing over head, "Eh-heh... It would have been faster had I been able to Shunshin (Body Flicker) into here." Clone Naruto felt hit jumpsuit jacket being lifted up an a short intake of breath from Mui, the most emotion he had shown in a long time. He heard the clinking of a kunai being picked up, then was stabbed in the chest and was dispelled.

"You messed up Maroi." Mui's voice came close to an accusing tone towards the cloaked assailant. The reason Mui knew the Kage Bunshin Naruto was a clone was the fact that it did not have the Katon: Tenrou (Heavenly Imprisonment) on it when Mui was about to take it off.

Naruto had pulled a fast one on both the cloaked assailant _and _Mui.

**XXX-XXX**

_'Who could that person have been though?'_ Naruto thought to himself for near the hundreth time. And the same result occurred each time.

He had no clue as to who he could be.

Fortunately, or Unfortunately on how one could think about it, he was brought out of his thinking process when a voice called out from the otherside of the metal door, "I had honestly expected you to go farther than that." Yet before Naruto could send back a retort, the same gruff yet oddly feminine voice appeased him in a way, "Yet with how much chakra you used, I'm suprised you had even gotten that far. It's amazing you didn't burst into flames after you jumped out of the circular hole in the ceiling with the amount of chakra you were using."

"Who are you?" Naruto hurried to ask, putting his ear next to the metal door.

The silence pounded into Naruto's ears before the person finally responded, "I will tell you later as the very walls have ears here," He heard clothing rustling on the ground before the voice became hushed and low, "As for right now, I have important news that would benefit both you and I in regards to escaping Houzukijou and taking the Tenrou off. But for now," Another brief silence, "Do not let your resolve faulter, do not allow your will to be broken down and you will live through to see your freedom returned back to you." He heard sounds of the person's quick steps. Naruto was once again accosted by silence but as he peered down to the stone floor, he saw a green piece of cloth half underneath his side of the metal gate.

The blond then realized that the person was the effeminate inmate from not two days ago. For the first time in several days, Naruto let out a large grin at the thought of being able to escape with the Tenrou off.

**XXX-XXX**

Two Days Later, Last Day of Solitary

Over the past two days, Naruto had been replaying and thinking over the brief conversation with the prisoner. Yet that was blown to the side when another voice called out to him, this time from the small rectangular window when he was just awakening from sleeping.

"Anyone in there?" A quiet, old sounding voice called out, rousing Naruto from his sleep.

Naruto immediately jumped up, "Who's there?!" He asked.

"No one special." the voice replied in return, "More importantly, do you want to get out?"

Almost entirely forgetting his previous conversation with the green-clad prisoner from earlier, Naruto responded with vigor, "Can you get me out? What should I do?"

The voice then sounded somewhat amused by his questions and it showed in his voice, "If you defeat Mui, the Tenrou will disappear from your body completely."

At first naruto seemed wary of the advice, but as a few moments passed it made sense. Beat the person holding the control, and it slips. Regardless, Naruto still had to ask in a vain attempt to get the man's motives, "Why are you telling me this?"

Silence met his question, only the waves responding by lapping onto the rocks of the cliff that Houzukijou could be heard from Solitary at that point.

**XXX-XXX**

In the courtyard later that day when Naruto was released, Mui strolled through the area only to stop and turn around when Naruto's voice yelled out, "Oi!" The caped man gave his attention to the blond, "I heard that if you're defeated then the seal will disappear!"

An excited murmur rose through the crowd of inmates that loosely surrounded the duo. "As you are right now, you will not defeat me." Mui stated towards Naruto who narrowed his eyes in response. Naruto charged Mui, cocking his fist back and swinging when Mui was in range only for the caped man to turn out of the way and brought his leg up to kick the blond's stomach. He flew towards the ground several yards away from Mui's leg guiding the direction and onto the stone ground. "Why do you continue to fight?" Mui asked.

He recieved a growl in response as Naruto picked himsel up from the ground and charged in once again, only for the seal to began pulsating halfway to the Head of Houzukijou from unconsciously using chakra to dull the damage from Mui's kick. He fell into a bowed position of sorts in front of the Head of Houzukijou, "Is it for your village? Or something more?" Naruto felt a pang go through his heart when Mui mentioned his village. The place that had betrayed him for no reason. In response, Naruto's anger rose.

The guards who had been watching picked up the angry blond who yelled out, "Oi! Let me go so I can beat the shit out of Mui-teme!"

The rotund man with the glasses who had initally greeted the prisoners gleefuly stated, "Oh-ho ho! You must have liked Solitary Confinement a lot to want to go back after just being released! For prisoners, the second offense is a five day stint in Confinement!" They carted the blond off, leaving Mui and the crowd staring at the retreating form of the guards and Naruto leaving two of the prisoners with differing emotions in their wake. One having a self-satisfied air around him with the other shaking their head at Naruto's actions.

**XXX-XXX**

Fifth Day of Solitary Confinement, Morning

Over the previous five days Naruto was immersed deep thought, only rousing himself out of it to eat the food he was given and to go to the bathroom in a pot that was brought in three times a day. During those days of thought, he found he couldn't ignore his thoughts about Konoha, or more specifically, Tsunade sending him to Houzukijou without hearing his side of the story. He grew angered, saddened, depressed at the thoughts until eventually settling for anger at Tsunade and the Ninja of Konoha that hadn't at least fought for his freedom. He had helped them so much and asked so little in return.

Why couldn't they return some of that favor they owed him?

He also figured out his limits with the Tenrou, being only one Kage Bunshin per day before he lost control and the seal activated.

"Naruto Uzumaki, you're free to come out." A guard opened the metal door, allowing Naruto to crawl out and breaking him out of his thoughts. He stretched and nodded to the guards before walking out to find the smell of food, thinking of his meeting with the Kyuubi along the way.

**XXX-XXX**

Flashback - Two Days Ago, Naruto's Mindscape

The mindscape of Naruto was the same as it had even been. Virtually a large, narrow sewer that was somewhat cleaner than an actual one, yet that didn't matter as Naruto couldn't become dirty in there. He approached the large, intricate metal gate that held back the Kyuubi and called out for the fox.

"Furball! You there?!"

A loud growling noise came from inside the gate before a large claw crashed down onto the gate, "**What the hell do you want ningen (Human)?**"

"I came here to talk furball!" Naruto retorted.

"**I'm already in a shitty mood ningen from that goddamn Katon: Tenrou (Fire Release: Heavenly Imprisonment) and I don't need your damn insolence on top of that!**" Kyuubi roared at Naruto and slammed against the gate once again, this time with his whole body.

Naruto blinked like an owl. What did the Tenrou do to him? Naruto voice his question and the Kyuubi irritably replied, "**Beacuse when you used the damned Bijuu Cloak, the Katon: Tenrou reacted on me as well, Ningen, and it burned me all to hell. If it wasn't for me taking most of the internal damage, you'd have been a crisp in mere miliseconds!**" Kyuubi shifted a bit so that his stomach was not in view, but Naruto caught the view of the same seal on Kyuubi that Naruto had on himself and a good majority of his underside badly burned.

The container stared Kyuubi into his red rimmed, slitted eyes, "I'm... sorry furball. It wasn't my intention to harm you when I used the Bijuu Cloak so... Thank you."

Kyuubi stared long and hard into his container's blue eyes, "**What brought this on ningen?**"

Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "Well, if it wasn't for you taking the hit then I'd have died along with you. I just wanted to escape this prison."

"**Ah-hahaha! You think I did that just for your sake?!**" Kyuubi roared in laughter, "**Then how about this my container: I will help contain the damage from the seal and even give you some insight and advice... Provided that you allow me certain privledges.**"

"What privledges? And it better not be letting you free!" Naruto yelled in response.

"**You allow me to see, hear, feel, smell and taste through your own feelings. Since this is your mind and you have... _Defeated_ me... You have absolute power in here. All you have to do is state it as a mental command as it will happen.**" The Kyuubi spoke with a silver-tongue except for spitting out the word 'Defeated' as if it were a disgusting thing. It was easy to see how he managed to live for so long.

Naruto stared at the Kyuubi, pondering his words and wondering if it was a wise move to accept until a thought hit him, "Kyuubi, how would you give me advice if I was in a fight? If you sent me here in the middle of a fight, I'd get myself killed." Naruto narrowed his eyes at the large fox who snarled in response to his container's question.

"**Goddamn it Ningen! Why are you looking a gift in the mouth?! For fucks sake, with mental consent from you I can assist you in setting up a mental link that would allow me to talk to you provided that you keep the link open. You'd be able to close it at will.**" Kyuubi growled at Naruto, angered at having to consent to a mortal's will if he wanted it.

"Alright, that's fine by me. So long as you don't overstep your bounds I'm fine with that," Naruto jovially replied, making Kyuubi wonder in the back of his mind as to whether his container was bipolar, "But if you do overstep and try to take control of my body, I will muzzle you and cut off any access to the outside world for you!"

Kyuubi growled once again, angered at the insolence that a mortal showed him but forcibly bowed his furry head. This was the only way he'd be able to get some sort of entertainment other than the memories of his container which were fun to watch, but he wanted to feel, to smell, to hear, to taste things once again rather than live in a dank sewer. "**Very... well... Naruto.**" Kyuubi growled out.

It was a start, a rocky start at best, but it was a point none the less for Naruto and Kyuubi.

**XXX-XXX**

The mess hall of the Prison was nice enough, has multiple long tables, a few wooden pillars to support the roof on the side of the hall and on the other side of the room directly opposite of the door was the window where food was put through for the prisoners. This was the scene that Naruto walked in to from Solitary, only the room was filled with numerous of the inmates that leveled hard gazes at him.

He nervously strode forward, smiling widely when he saw the ramen that one person was eating, "Ahh! Kusagakure has ramen too! It's probably not better... than..." Naruto broke off mid-sentence and shook his head. Not that he was afraid of the glares, but because of the raw emotions just behind the word 'Konoha'. He walked ahead to the window and was about to get some food when a man with broad shoulders, a fairly muscled body and was fairly tall overall got up. He had black hair, a darker complexion, grey eyes, a long face with various age wrinkles on it. He wore a brown and yellow coat that was frayed when it reached his waist with green pants with a knee-guard. The man strode over to Naruto who assumed he was going to need to fight, but only started slowly clapping with a smile on his face.

Soon after the man began clapping, the rest of the prisoners joined in. After a few moments the whole room was filled with clapping and cheering that confused Naruto to no end. The man pushed the confused Naruto forward onto the table where he soaked up the attention like a sponge.

Several minutes later, the clapping died down and everyone calmed down. Naruto jumped off of the table, got his ramen and sat down at a table where several of the inmates acknowledged him by nodding their heads or smiling at him. The man then sat down opposite of Naruto who then asked, "Why is everyone so happy?"

"Because you're like a star here, albeit, a scary star, but a star nonetheless. You nearly escaped your first day here, faced Mui himself right after getting out of Solitary and let's not mention your initial power display when you first got here." The man grinned at Naruto. "The name's Maroi."

"Naruto Uzumaki *Slurp*" Naruto said as he swollowed another chunk of noodles and smiled at Maroi. Houzukijou didn't seem to be such a bad place at all from how Naruto viewed it.

**XXX-XXX**

Courtyard, Dusk

"_ALL PRISONERS, YOUR PHYSICAL EXERCISE IS OVER. RETURN TO YOUR CELLS."_ Came the scratchy voice from an intercom, informing all the prisoners to go in. During such time, all guards report in to the rotund man before patrolling over having a night off depending on their hours. One such guard was not there, and currently rushing to make it as he was still in the courtyard.

"Crap! I'm going to be late!" The guard was scared, obviously. But being late became the worst of his worries when he was running through the archway to the inner walls of the Prison and a blond streek knocked him out via kick to the top of the spine.

He fell in a crumpled heap and Naruto did feel guilty but what he was doing was being practical. By taking the guard's uniform and putting it on, he had free access to walk out. And did he take that opportunity.

Naruto strolled outside until he was out of sight from prying eyes and onto the steps leading up to Houzukijou. After he reached that point, he ran with a giddy cheer. _'I'm glad I checked my limits with the Kage Bunshin!"_ Naruto cheerfully thought as he cleared the last few steps with a leap and onto the small, bridge. Thinking about how he was going to go from here, Naruto stopped. _'Wait... If I go overland then I'll be burnt to a crisp if I get too far away from Mui-teme. I guess it's time to go by water!'_ He decided while the Kyuubi actively thought in the background.

'**This is going to end badly... But at least if he doesn't use the Bijuu Cloak I'll be fine for the most part.**' The fox ferally grinned as he caught the scent of another human, '**Who is this? A male inmate chasing after the Ningen... But what is that scent... Ah-hahahaha!**' Kyuubi snorted in his cage, '** So he isn't a he but in all actuality, a she. This deal was actually worth it...**' Kyuubi grinned once again before letting the fireworks roll out. He sure as hell wasn't going to tip off his container unless it was life-threatening as the fox didn't want to die but the deal he made was already bearing interesting fruits.

Odd fruit grew just outside of Houzukijou, almost like a tomato and berry mix that Naruto noted as he ran towards the cliffs. He soon reached the cliffside and ignored the tall rock formations on the cliffs, only focusing on the roiling waters and the tall pillars of stone in the water. _'This might be harder than I thought...'_ Naruto sweatdropped as he stared at the whirling waters. Just as he was about to jump though, he heard a familiar voice call out to him.

"Are you running away from Houzukijou after you gave your word to stay? Besides," Naruto turned around to see the effeminate prisoner not a few yards away from him with a disappointed look on his face, "The seal will stay on your body and the moment you get out of the water and dry off, you will ignite into flame."

Naruto had never thought of it in those terms.

**"Maybe if you actually think out your plans, you would not have been in this situation."** Kyuubi snidely whispered in Naruto's ear. Naruto growled inwardly at the fox who merely smirked before quietening.

However, just as he was about to walk back to him the rocks collapsed with Naruto following. The prisoner swore violently as he rushed towards the shellshocked blond. Shock filled Naruto's system as he attempted to cling to the rock, only for them to crumble beneath his feet and hands as he attempted to stick to them using chakra. He plumeted down the tall, jagged cliffside into the water that engulfed him. Even though he was able to mould chakra in the water, in was almost impossible for Naruto. The currents were strong and required nearly all of his concentration to stay above water but when he was able mould even the smalled amount, he would get sucked under the water from losing concentration.

The prisoner quickly jumped in after the blond who had just smacked against the water, not bothering to mess with his clothes. Being a native to the land helped as he impacted against the water. He swam like a fish in the water against the currents and kept a firm eye on the bobbing blond before he went underwater and slammed against the rock pillar. The breath knocked out from his system and was about to become sucked into another current before the prisoner caught him as he firmly planted his feet onto the rocks while using the currents to keep himself in place.

Before another current could take hold of the duo, the prisoner quickly swam to the surface with a half-conscious Naruto in tow while using chakra to help propel him forward to the surface and to dry land.

**XXX-XXX**

"*Sniffle* Th-Thank you." Naruto shivered as he inched closer to the small fire that the prisoner had built. After hearing no response Naruto turned to find the cliff and his eyes widened. The prisoner he had assumed was a man was in all actuality a female... Or was she an it?

"Uh... Are you a transvestite?" She turned, closed the distance between her and Naruto and a resounding smack resonated throughout the small outcropping they were under. Wisely, Naruto took the harsh slap as a loud 'No' and did not push the subject.

Sometimes -like right now-, Naruto really hated the fact he was so out-spoken and couldn't hold his tongue at times.

"No, I am not a transvestite. I am a woman in case you didn't notice." She said in a slightly more feminine voice, losing the gruffness that she faked in it. She glared at him and pointed to her breasts that were wrapped tightly with medical tape. The glare lessened as she noticed it was an honest mistake but it still remained.

"Sorry, sorry." Naruto inched closer to the fire.

The woman sighed and pulled on her green shirt, pale green vest and sat next to Naruto on the otherside of the fire. At least she kept her pants on. "It's... fine. Don't say that again though." She warned him before continuing, "Now that we're at least away from prying eyes and ears, I can tell you about my mission."

Naruto stared inquisitvely at her as she continued, "My name is Ryuuzetsu, a member of the Kusagakure Anbu. My purpose for being here is to ensure that the Box of Paradise does not awaken and to kill Mui."

He absorbed her words like a sponge, but a question escaped his lips as she took a breath, "What is the Box of Paradise? And why does it invol...ve... Sorry."

A silent stare quieted Naruto and allowed Ryuuzetsu to speak again, "If you would allow me to reach that point, I will be able to explain it to you." The blond sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "The Box of Paradise is an old object dating back to the time of the Rikudo Sennin (Sage of the Six Paths). It is said that the box can grant any wish to the person that uses it and Kusagakure did use it a long time ago. However, just as Kusa was about to finish conquering the world... It was destroyed the next day. No one knows what happened, only that the Box was involved with the destruction of Kusa." She took a steadying sigh and stared at Naruto intently.

"From that point on, Kusagakure became split into two seperate factions: The Truth and The Flower. The Truth are those who wish to use the Box to restore the former glory of Kusa and continue what was nearly done all those years ago. We, the Flower," Ryuuzetsu pointed to herself, "Are those who wish that the Box should remain dormant as it will bring about another great destruction upon Kusagakure. The Head of Houzukijou, _Mui_," She inwardly snarled at his name, outwardly sharing her obvious displeasure of the man, "Is one of the Truth. They would do anything to awaken the dormant Box and as far as we know, the Box requires a great Chakra intake to actually awaken it. That would be where you come into the fold because of your Jinchuuriki status."

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he slowly connected the dots. They wanted the Kyuubi's chakra to meet their own ends for their country. "From what our spies have managed to gather, The Truth were already planning to drag you here within the next couple of years but when news got out that you were to be sent here... It was as if it were an early Christmas for them. That is the only reason they have been so slow to act in awakening the box, along with the fact that it would be suspicious for an inmate to go missing in the first few days."

After he connected the remaining dots he had to ask, "So you want my help in destroying the Box and killing Mui-teme?"

"It would be benefical for both of us to do so, yes. But," Ryuuzetsu narrowed her eyes, but not at Naruto, but in memory of the man who killed his own son, "When the time comes to kill Mui, the final blow will be mine." She declared with such dedication and determination that Naruto couldn't help but nod and agree to.

"If you want to take the kill, go ahead." Naruto amiably agreed before a thought had stuck Naruto about the use of chakra.

Kyuubi shook his head and snorted to himself, **'Finally the Ningen realizes it...'**

"Ryuuzetsu, when will we need to get back before the guards catch us?" Naruto quickly asked as he leaned forward towards Ryuuzetsu.

"Around two hours before the patrol shifts and the Flower spies are on break." She confusedly replied, "Why?"

Naruto shifted into a meditative form with his hands on his knees after making sure he was as dry as possible and hoped that the seal wouldn't begin pulsating because of the distance between him and Mui. He felt the Natural Chakra saturated in the air and began absorbing it, slowly going into Sage Mode with the Natural Chakra fueling it.

Thirty seconds passed before a dark orange pigmentation appeared around his eyes. Ryuuzetsu stared at him in confusion at what he was doing before his eyes opened. The pupils were a rectangular bar and around the outer edge of his eyes turned orange. Before Ryuuzetsu could ask though, he vanished in the wind as one of the large stone outcrops shattered into hundreds of shards and slivers with Naruto standing right next to it wearing a red coat with black flames outlining the hems of it. His fist was outstretched and the chakra that was a part of the punch disipated from the air. He vanished in the air once again, this time leaving a noticeable wave of air in his path with rocks blowing backwards.

She stared in amazment at the blond who appeared in front of her again with several questions rolling around in her mind like a maelstrom. How did he manage to use chakra to that extent? What was up with the eye change? Was it involved with the meditation? Where did the good-looking coat come from?

"Naruto-san, how did you manage to do that feat? The Tenrou should have activated or at the least began pulsating!" Ryuuzetsu exclaimed, showing more positive emotion that he had ever seen her with... Not that he had seen her for that long anyways.

Naruto grinned widely, stretching his birthmarks as he responded, "It's called Sage Mode. I use the Natural Chakra from nature itself to give myself a huge powerup. As of right now, I could do that hundreds and hundreds of times before the absorbed Chakra goes away without using any Jutsu." He explained to her.

Slowly the dots began connecting for her. Using meditation as a medium for gathering Natural Chakra he could absorb it. When he absorbed enough he goes into Sage Mode which augmented his current skill set. Still, Ryuuzetsu had some questions about it. "Does the Natural Chakra increase the power of jutsu to be stronger than jutsu being powered by regular Chakra and how'd you get the coat?"

"Yeah it does!" Naruto then scratched his head as he wondered about the second part of the question, "I got the coat when I finished my Sage Mode training with my summons, the Toads. Everytime I do go into Sage Mode, the coat puffs into smoke and onto me... Either that or Ma and Pa put a seal on me to do that when I wasn't looking..." Naruto began checking himself for any hidden seals.

Ryuuzetsu almost chuckled at the blond, "They probably put a seal on you." Her curiousity then caught the best of her and asked, "This might be an invasion of privacy but when you say 'Ma' and 'Pa' do you mean your parents or some of the Toads?"

Naruto cracked a sad smile as he remembered the only memories he had of his parents, Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze, "The toads that taught me. I'm an orphan." Ryuuzetsu felt a small pang of guilt for bringing that up but she didn't know yet Naruto caught onto her guilt rather quickly through the slight chakra flucuation and smiled at her, "It's fine Ryuuzetsu. Oh, and I can sense chakra while I'm in Sage Mode."

She blinked slowly as she realized the importance just being able to sense chakra would be in their mission, "Naruto," She began with her lips twitching upwards, "I think our mission just became a whole lot easier."

"Of course it did! I'm awesome like that dattebayo!" Naruto grinned widely once again with the same verbal tick he picked up when he was younger.

"Dattebayo?" Ryuuzetsu raised an eyebrow at the grinning blond before shrugging and becomming serious once more, "We need to have a plan setup and if all goes right with the spies gathering information without the Truth making a move on you, we'll be ready in a month."

They slowly passed the rest of the hour discussing the plan and the limit of Naruto's Sage Mode as the plan would rely heavily on it as their main ace in the sleeve. As it was right now, Ryuuzetsu and Naruto both became confident in their plan for their mission to end Mui and 'destroy' the Box.

Now it was just a matter of time before the plan would be implemented and the hammer struck the anvil.

* * *

**That would be Chapter Two and I have to ask, how was it?**

**I tried to make Kyuubi / Kurama as close to canon as possible: A snide, prideful ass in a nutshell.**

**Ryuuzetsu I tried to have her slightly more open then canon but have the same personality for the most part.**

**The next chapter will be out by the end of the month with another chapter of my other Naruto story coming out. As a heads up, the next chapter is the precursor to the major fighting and fun scenes that you guys will hopefully enjoy.**

**Well, you guys know the drill: Tell me what was good, bad and what could need some improvement. I like seeing the feedback from you guys as it does help me find what I'm doing right.**

**Have a good day and rest of the month!**

**-KuyouFox**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:**

"The food... Really _is..._ Good here." Naruto said to Ryuuzetsu while slurping up a bowl of ramen that he had gotten for breakfast.

Ryuuzetsu shook her head at the blond, "How can you possibly even eat ramen for breakfast Naruto-san?" She herself was eating eggs and a rice ball.

"Because it's the food of the gods!" Naruto exclaimed when he swallowed the last bit of his ramen.

Ryuuzetsu rolled her eyes, checking the room in the process for anyone listening in on their conversation from the corner of the room during the process, "I have an idea about the seal and just how much chakra activates it." She discreetly checked the room again before continuing. "I believe it's due to the amount of chakra the person has and then a small percentage of that can be used before the seal does activate. So in your case, you can use around Mid-Chuunin chakra reserves before the seal activates and I can use around Low-Genin chakra levels before the seal activates."

She sighed at the low amounts of chakra she would be able to use. It was barely enough to wall-walk for seven minutes straight so any assassination attempt against Mui would have to be quick and precise without dragging the fight on.

Yet before she could continue any further, they both heard a voice lowly call out to them from behind the closest pillar, "If you're planning to take on Mui I want in." Maroi walked to the tensing duo but before they could attempt something irrational he quickly added in the same low voice as before, "I'm here to uncover any information about the Box from Kumo. I just recently got a message from Bee-san to help you out as best as I can Naruto." At that, Naruto's resistance quickly waned as he remembered the man he nicknamed 'Octopops'. But Ryuuzetsu's resistance still stood strong.

"How do we know you aren't a lackey of _Mui_?" She asked. Maroi noted the warning tone in her voice and moved to mollify her worry.

"If I was, I couldn't given a very accurate description of Naruto's current skill set to Mui if I so wanted, but I haven't." Maroi smiled at Ryuuzetsu's studying and wary gaze before adding, "Besides, I'll willingly give all of my information of the inner-chambers of Houzukijou that no members of The Flower can reach without being discovered along with the patrol routes and various other goodies about them. It helps to have managed to worm my way up the totem pole here and get into Mui's good graces."

Ryuuzetsu was still somewhat hesitant at that point for someone to just walk up and offer their assistance, even if they were requested to help through a trusted third party. Naruto on the other hand, was glad for the help and assistance, especially if Bee contacted him to help Naruto. "That's more than what we could get by ourselves Ryuuzetsu. Besides, if he's willing to help us then it could make our job easier if he really was asked by Bee." He tried convincing Ryuuzetsu who nearly caved in with Naruto's suggestion.

"Besides," Maroi pulled out his Kumo hitai-ate with a cloud after checking to make sure no one was looking from the inside his jacket's inner lining to show Ryuuzetsu and Naruto as every prisoner's Hitai-ate was confiscated when they arrived and replaced with one with no visible markings to show any affiliation to their village, "Does this prove my claim?"

At that, Ryuuzetsu finally agreed yet still had some reservations about working with a person who had worked with Mui. "Fine. But if you cross us I will personally show you why I was chosen for this mission." Maroi nodded in agreement but couldn't blame her in the least bit for some of her distrust. He did, after all, 'work' for Mui in a sense of the word.

For the next forty minutes Maroi began reciting some of the information that he promised to give but did not give them all as it would take far too long in that case and someone would get suspicious if they were talking for hours on end when they had never even talked with each other much beforehand. When he stated that he wasn't going to give all of the information in one setting because of two reasons:

It wouldn't be wise to be seen talking for hours on end, secluded away from the rest of the prisoners as it could be interpreted easily enough. And two, it was too much information to be passed on in one setting as they would have to memorize it and forgetting a vital piece of information could be deadly in their mission. So in response to that, they planned to space out their meetings in the courtyard to around half an hour maximum every day with Maroi meeting them in their individual cells at night, alternating to each one every night to impart more of his knowledge for another hour.

He never did expect their thirst for the knowledge to be so great though.

**XXX-XXX**

**One Week Later**

As the week progressed, both Naruto and Ryuuzetsu memorized as much of Houzukijou as they possibly could at a rate that Maroi was left nearly sleep deprived and paranoid of guards approaching as they literally had him running between both cells after two hours of teaching each of them separately. It was honestly a crack-up to both Naruto and to Ryuuzetsu in a way when he jumped the moment he heard someone walking by the cell or even talking near them.

From what Maroi had told them, they knew about the guards' limitations which were surprisingly low for what Houzukijou held within its claws. They were only around a Chuunin's skill in Taijutsu at the most with absolutely no skill in Nin or Genjutsu but had decent skill in using the weapons they were issued. They also learned about the various squads and individual guard routes, the secret passages that Maroi had uncovered or been told about, what he knew of the Box from what Mui had told him and of Mui's office and private chambers. Another important facet of the Prison they had learned was that the guard towers and battlements were armed at all times with guard switches every two hours, being that the new guard relieves the old one with a spoken code replied to each other as a line of defense of sorts against intruders.

As the week had progressed when they weren't memorizing what they could of the Prison, which was a good majority of the daytime, both Naruto and Ryuuzetsu grew closer along with Maroi - when he wasn't in a paranoid mode that is. They joked, laughed and otherwise put on an amazing front that fooled the prisoners and guards alike that they became close friend, which in all actuality, they had.

From all the information they had, they all felt extremely confident that they would be prepared should any unexpected wrenches to be thrown into their plans and have to improvise on the spot. After all, why wouldn't they understand every inch of Houzukijou as it could very well be used as a weapon when they were handicapped as far as they were?

**XXX-XXX**

"Wait, so you mean that you literally painted the Hokage Monument, the landmark in Konoha that everyone in the Elemental Continues knows, in broad daylight and only your Academy Teacher caught you?" Ryuuzetsu asked in shock. How can one Genin, no, Genin-_Hopeful_ manage to paint a _mountain _without someone noticing in the first place?!

"Mm-hmm!" Naruto grinned at Ryuuzetsu as they slowly walked around the Prison Courtyard. Naruto had eventually gotten to a comfortable level with Ryuuzetsu to even talk to her about his exploits in Konoha, provided it was never about his incarceration as the very thought of the topic sent him on an unwanted reminder of that night . Of the distrust that one of the closest people to him that he even considered a grandmother, an older sister and even a mother at times.

No – he did not want to remember that night, nor ever think or hear about it again.

"How did the Anbu never catch you?" She incredulously asked, "In Kusa, if any important landmark was defaced, the person who did it would be thrown into prison depending on the damage and forced to pay for the repairs!" Naruto blinked his eyes like an owl as he imagined himself at Kusa...

Yeah, like hell he'd be able live there!

The talk between the two slowly subsided to an amiable silence as they slowly walked around the courtyard. During the silence, Naruto's thoughts began to wander and eventually wrap around the woman known as Ryuuzetsu. He often wondered about her, what caused her to detest Mui so much along with the mystery engulfed that event. But he never asked as he thought it would be considered rude. Not that he wasn't rude himself -which he was at times- but due to the reason that he didn't want to offend the closest person he considers a good friend in the desolate Prison that was known as Houzukijou. But occasionally one of his odd – and quite annoying – quirks that were associated with all Shinobi and Kunoichi would rear its head.

"Ryuuzetsu, why do you hate that teme, Mui, so much?" Yeah. Sometimes, he really hated that quirk.

She turned and appraised him with emotionally detached violet eyes for several minutes. Naruto began fidgeting uncomfortably, internally panicking that he offended her greatly but before he could move to fix his mistake she sighed and cut him off unintentionally. "For reasons that involve _Mui_ and the death of a very close friend." She curtly stated before striding ahead.

Naruto cursed inwardly at the sound of her voice and hurried to catch up to her with the intent to fix his mistake, "I'm sorry for asking Ryuuzetsu. It slipped when I was thinking about how you could hate Mui so much."

Ryuuzetsu turned and stared at him with the intensity of a hawk staring down its prey for several moments. "As long as that was not intentional, I have no qualms about forgetting about the question." Her lips quirked ever so slightly when she saw Naruto's face light up with hope, "But I do believe we have some company approaching us." The quickly changing facial expression on Naruto's face to a more neutral appearance told her he heard their loud footsteps approaching as well and felt a warming pang of pride in her being with a lesson he learned from her over the time spent together.

Weakness in any way, shape or form is not a liability that can be afforded to give to any future or current enemies in any hostile environment.

They turned to see approximately twenty of the bulkier and muscular men of Houzukijou approaching them with ill intent clear in their battle-ready postures, the Tenrou (Heavenly Imprisonment) easily spotted on their chests. She shared a momentary glance with Naruto before focusing her full attention upon the men.

"Haa~" One of them – the leader from what the duo could tell being the tallest at 6'7'', muscles to rival that of the Raikage, A, and carried himself with an arrogant air smirked at Ryuuzetsu and Naruto. "Lookie there buddies. We have two fresh meat-bags that haven't been properly introduced to the intricacies of Houzukijou." A bloodthirsty chuckle arose from the group as bone popping snaps resonated in the air from knuckles and necks. "Let's introduce ourselves then…"

Several moments passed with little movement despite the open ended invitation from their boss to attack before a mirthless chuckle came from Naruto before any movement could be made, infuriating several members of the group. "I believe you haven't introduced yourselves yet anyways."

"Like they would introduce themselves anyway." Ryuuzetsu sniffed at the group. "Savages…"

"Why you –!" Several of the members growled at their audacity before being cut off by the leader.

"Shut yer lips Yammato!" He backhanded the smallest of the protestors before addressing Naruto with a snigger playing on his lips, "The name's Yakem." Yakem thought for a moment before continuing, "I rather like your spunk kiddo. Let's see if you can fight as well as you can talk with your little buddy." With a snap of his fingers the eighteen other men standing waited for not a second before charging Ryuuzetsu and Naruto.

They split unevenly with ten going towards Naruto, the rest advancing towards Ryuuzetsu.

Despite the odds, Naruto grinned like an eight year-old in a candy shop. Finally! A way to relieve stress in a way that didn't annoy anyone other than the men he was anxious to beat down!

His eyes quickly analyzed their movements – quick, jerky and erratic movement from seven of the ten approximately ten paces out from him, slow, sluggish and heavy movements from the other three that were approximately fifteen paces away. The ones moving the quickest were moving in no particular order or formation making it easy for Naruto to discern where to attack first – there!

Naruto shot off – careful not to draw upon chakra to augment his movements – and aimed for a scraggly man with a distinctive jagged scar running across his neck that was at the far right of the loosely formed assault party, taking him down with little resistance put up from a wild right hook that was blocked with Naruto's own right forearm. Naruto's right leg shot out and connected with sickening force on the man's solar plexus, a bone or two cracking minimally from the force that would have been more with chakra behind it.

The man fell back onto the stone cobbled ground rasping for air as Naruto used the momentum generated from the kick to spin towards the upcoming group, deflecting a haymaker with his left arm before following it up with a right uppercut to the taller man's jaw.

He stumbled back and Naruto capitalized on it by spontaneously shooting forward, catching a grazing kick on his calf making the blond buckle for a brief moment before sinking to the ground. He watched an arm extend for a punch, an elbow thrust forward and several low, sweeping kicks that he saw flash forward past his eyes, the wind ruffling his hair. Kyuubi Jinchuuriki kicked forward off of the ground and rammed his fist onto and off of the tall, gruff man's jaw, a crack resounding through the area.

Naruto turned and grinned at the remaining five gang members that were able to fight along with their larger counterpart's reinforcements bringing the totally back up to eight.

"Come on – is that all you got?"

**XXX-XXX**

Ryuuzetsu weaved in-between the fists, elbows, knees and kicks with a grace like a dancer unlike Naruto's rough, yet still effective, brawling style. She quickly ducked underneath a rather meaty fist, putting both hands on top of the fist and launching herself into the air towards the tall, extremely vast man.

She landed on his right shoulder before back-flipping off, kicking the back of his head hard enough to send him forward onto a slow teammate that was crushed under the unconscious meat tank. Dashing forward, she threw a combination of two lightning-quick kicks by way of a spinning kick followed up by a back-thrust kick at the diaphragm of the man closest to her, dropping him in a crumpled heap gasping for air barely conscious.

Ryuuzetsu mentally scoffed at how weak these men were. The only strength they had was in numbers and even then, they couldn't even use that to their advantage. _'Three down, five to go and Naruto has taken down two. I wonder how he'll deal with the rest of the men.'_

Hearing the blond's words not even two seconds later made her sigh – outwardly this time while she narrowed her eyes in irritation after barely side-stepping to avoid a rather nasty right hook towards her temple.

Why did he have to make the job harder than was necessary?

**XXX-XXX**

_'Crap!'_ Naruto mentally cursed as he attempted to shift and dodge from the redoubled effort from the enraged men. _'Maybe saying that wasn't the smartest.'_ The blond thought as he rammed his knee into a reedy-looking man who coughed up spittle tinged with red while falling to the floor, narrowly side-stepping a roundhouse kick to his jaw.

Only to move into the line of fire for another attack that came in the form of a fist pummeling itself onto Naruto's nose, breaking the cartilage. Warm blood trickled down his nose as he jumped back and away from the rest of the men, glaring balefully at the man who managed to sock him.

"Not so tough now eh?" The tan man scoffed at Naruto and proceeded to charge him along with the other six of his allies, two coming from the left and right, one circling around to Naruto's backside with the remaining two charging the Jinchuuriki upfront.

Quickly taking in where all the attackers were at, Naruto took a chance with charging into the middle of the fray once again. A fist courtesy of Naruto found itself sidestepped by the tan man who also gifted the same courtesy to Naruto. The blond jumped over the fist and rolled over the man's arm, finally landing in back of the three men who found themselves to be only one once again – the tan man.

Naruto spun, using the momentum from the spin to augment his elbow's force against the back of an extremely pale, thick yet muscular man, effectively knocking him out before throwing his leg around in a roundhouse kick to a semi-turned masked face that was soon kissing the ground not moments later in jet-black darkness.

_'Four left haha!'_

The remaining four – with the exception of the tanned man who was of a swimmer's build – were the frame and build that was hunted for in bodyguards – towering heights, black-skin and corded muscles lining their arms and legs with similarities going so similar that they could be mistaken as triplets. Their only discerning features was an arm simply missing , one that was bald and the last having a scar running from left eyebrow to jaw-bone.

The three bulky men gave a moment's thought to their predicament as so how the blond was systematically eliminating their comrades. They shared a thoughtful glance before attacking as a group head-on, the tanned man standing back to observe how Naruto dealt with a coordinated attack instead of a bar fight type brawl.

_'I wonder how you'll handle Michiro, the Strong-Arm; Gant, the Scalper; and Ichiro, the One-Eyed Terror – the elite Jounin trio of Kumo.'_

**XXX-XXX**

Ryuuzetsu swatted the fist barreling her way with ease and followed up on the slim man's shock by launching her leg to his ribs. Several loud bone-cracking sounds resounded in the air around the prone form of the man on the floor several feet away.

_'This is pathetic, both my own precarious Taijutsu style and the utterly weak opposition. Both are terrible.' _She lamented her poor Taijutsu prowess without chakra as a twinge of pain hit her, originating from her foot, her weapon of choice to augment her fighting style not present. _'This petty squabble would have been put down already had I been able to bring my naginata.'_ With a growl threatening to release itself from her throat, she quickly moved to discover where the remaining four men were at before moving to assault them and end the petty squabble.

She charged the wary men, hiding a modicum of surprise at the fact that an older man in his fifties and gray-white shoulder length hair with stubble passing for a beard, avoiding her sweeping kick along with the follow-up kick from the ground directed to his sternum. Ryuuzetsu quickly ducked and weaved through the barrage of quick jabs, elbows and knees thrown in tandem with extreme difficulty, countering with a jab to the underside of his lean arm or with a leg to a knee to no avail as it did nothing to stop the freight train. Slowly, the other men began to circle in on the fight.

Her surprise was evident to the older man as he chuckled in-between putting his right arm up to block a kick from her left. "Didn't expect your opponent to have such skill eh, _girly?_" He whispered the last part to Ryuuzetsu, chuckling more when she froze and caught a heel drilled into her right shoulder from two of the three working in tandem.

Ryuuzetsu cried in pain before viciously thrusting her leg out to cave in the offending leg's kneecap, inwardly cursing the pain of a dislocated shoulder from her momentary lapse of concentration while weaving out of the throng of the fight.

_'Can take a debilitating injury _and_ still fight amidst the pain… She and her friend just might be my way out of this hell.'_ The graying man mused to himself as he noted Naruto's brawl slowly turn into a one-sided beat-down with the use of a unique Taijutsu style and Ryuuzetsu's elegant yet brutal method of battle. He shrugged as he watched her efficiently take down the remaining two men with a combination of catching one's arm with her left, showing amazing flexibility with her leg snapping up and rendering the arm useless by fracturing the joint.

That man cried in agony before being silenced by his throat catching a heel in it, neck snapping back with enough force to snap the spin, yet not kill him. _'That takes some skill to do in the heat of battle and fighting the haze of an injury to not kill. She's a smart at least to not risk going to the underground cells for life.'_

With all the evidence he needed, the graying man strode with a purpose and eliminated the remaining man with a chop to the back of the neck. He fell in a crumpled heap onto the ground in front of Ryuuzetsu. "Sorry about that missy. I needed evidence to support my opinion that you are the real deal in your plans to escape Houzukijou. And don't try to deny my words," He said in response to her opening mouth, "The prison walls have ears and unlike some," He cast an unfavorable glance filled with scorn and derision at his previous comrades who were moaning in pain or were unconscious, "I can actually hear. So, I want in. In return, I can get you safe haven in several of my safe houses scattered across the Elemental Nations and possibly train the two of you for the war I can feel on the rise in my weary bones."

A recognizing glint shined in her eyes as she recognized the man in front of her. "YOU?! You're supposed to be dead!" Ryuuzetsu uncharacteristically yelled at the sheepish man. The proverbial cogs spun in Ryuuzetsu's mind as the chances of success further increased with this legend's assistance along with his experience.

"Supposed to… But as you can see, I'm not." Sadness seemed to lace his words before grim determination set in. "Do you agree to my proposition? There are no drawbacks other than what certain officials might hear…" Despite the open-ended threat, Ryuuzetsu knew the decision she would make.

With a nod from the white-haired Kunoichi, the man spoke up once again, cheering at his good luck. "Excellent! Now then, let's go assist your boyfriend in his battle. He's not going to have any sort of paradise facing Michiro, Gant and Ichiro as you can see." He grimly stated, filing for later notice how Ryuuzetsu didn't show any outward emotion towards his boyfriend comment, only choosing to fixate on dissecting and countering the three men's individual styles. He shrugged.

'_Could be she didn't hear with those eyes of hers studying their fighting styles too...'_

**XXX-XXX**

Naruto panted heavily, spitting out coagulated blood from his mouth as he studied the triplets who named themselves Michiro, Gant and Ichiro.

"Weak." Gant, the bald Jounin spat out as he prowled towards Naruto.

Michiro snorted. His one arm bruised black and blue pointed at the panting blond, "Hah! You only think so because you haven't been hit by him yet!"

"See what I have to deal with? A one-word man and the other that constantly fights the other in words or by fists." Ichiro sighed.

"Screw this – he's mine!" Gant bellowed before breaking into a charge that both of his comrades roared at him to stop.

Naruto smirked before swatting the out-stretched left fist away from himself and striking the armpit of Gant, managing to stop the right upper-cut in its tracks and slammed his fist in Gant's stomach. Gant doubled over, gasping for the air expelled from his lungs before catching a knee in the face.

A snap resounded in the air as Gant's nose snapped with blood already spurting out onto Naruto's knee. Naruto attempted to move only to find he couldn't as Gant held onto his leg with both arms in an iron-tight grip. "No moving for you now you wretch! Michiro! Ichiro! Get this runt!"

"With pleasure!"

Ichiro simply sighed and complied. The two men charged forward and moved with the intent to kill. Despite their speed, their attacks were deflected with simplistic ease from Ryuuzetsu and the gray haired Shinobi and were knocked backwards several feet from Naruto who barely got out of Gant's loosening grip.

As he jumped back, Gant fell forward in unconsciousness. "Well then, I didn't expect you to be able to knock of the three elite Jounin from Kumo out. Good job kiddo."

In-between pants, Naruto replied, "Who… are you… old man?"

He responded with amusement, "Why, I'm hurt you didn't notice me Naruto-kun. I would've thought you'd have noticed the obvious similarities between me and my own son, Kakashi Hatake." Seeing Naruto's eyes widen was obviously what he was looking for. "Yes, I am Sakumo Hatake, the so-called White Fang of Konoha."

The fox inwardly smirked at this new development. **'Very interesting indeed…'**

"B-But you're dead! … Aren't you?" Naruto exclaimed ignoring how the two men began retreating as guards finally began pooling into the courtyard.

Sakumo's eyes hardened. "No, and I intend on getting my revenge on the one who is responsible for imprisoning me in this hell." Sakumo shrugged. His lips quirked upwards, the tense atmosphere ending, "Regardless, you have some… assistance for your future ventures." The White Fang waved goodbye once before disappearing in the throng of guards taking the gang members away, the tanned man and the gang leader vanishing in the crowd.

"At least you can take care of yourself in a fight fairly well despite the odds." Ryuuzetsu huffed as she put his arm around her neck and heaved him up from the ground while ignoring the medics and guards swarming the area.

_'At least the guards are ignoring us.'_

Naruto preened at her roundabout praise, even more so at her next few words. "Keep up the good work and there might be a reward later on."

Her lips quirked at how he smiled widely as she inwardly marveled at how easily he began to slip in-between the chinks in her proverbial armor. _'I can't fathom why I'm feeling so ambient towards him but… it isn't such a bad feeling to be close to another person that isn't entirely about business.'_

**XXX-XXX**

**Nighttime**

"-_ruto! Naruto_!" Maroi hissed quietly at the slowly rousing blond. "_Wake up_!"

"Hmm-mmm?" Naruto mumbled at the coat-wearing Kumo-nin. Deep blue eyes shot open when Maroi kicked the blond's ribs rather weakly and immediately jumped up, already in his unique Taijutsu style taught to him by the toads.

The fight earlier told him mountain-loads about using the style religiously.

"_What the hell!_"

"It's nice to know you'll get up when I use force to do so." Maroi dryly commented at the glaring blond. "Now let's hurry it up – we're meeting in Ryuuzetsu's cell."

Maroi sighed when Naruto blankly stared at him. "For Sakumo, remember?" Understanding lit up in ocean blue eyes.

"Ohhhh… Why didn't you say so?"

Kumo-nin resisted the urge to face-palm at the blond's antics. While ignoring the blond, Maroi quickly took a cursory glance outside the wooden bars of the cell and ushered Naruto out, placing a weak Genjutsu over the cell to show a sleeping Naruto. They hastened their pursuit to Ryuuzetsu's cell, Naruto using the minutest amounts of chakra to muffle footsteps against the flooring, also serving to accelerate his running pace.

**XXX-XXX**

"Good. You two are finally here." Ryuuzetsu intoned softly as the two nin slipped into the cell, Maroi already in the process of setting a Genjutsu before Sakumo rose from the shadows and interrupted the process.

"Don't bother with that – I've already done so and made it so any noise will seem to be snoring from the general area we're residing in." Maroi goggled at how the living legend was able to use such a Genjutsu with precision on top of having the Tenrou (Heavenly Imprisonment) working in the background to seal chakra. Naruto was simply dumbfounded at how he was able to even use a complex Genjutsu with the seal even with the control needed to cast the jutsu.

Ryuuzetsu's lips quirked upwards for a brief moment at Maroi and Naruto's expression before receding into a neutral fixture. "The reason we're here is for two specific reasons, both involving Sakumo Hatake." Hatake simply grinned at her. "The first is two pronged: assurance that you are who you say you are, and why your death was staged if you are who you claim to be. Once that assurance is made, we will progress to the second reason."

_'Whoa… Ryuuzetsu-chan really is cautious in accepting allies. First Maroi and now Sakumo Hatake…'_ Naruto frowned, '_But if he's a Hatake and Kakashi's father no less, why didn't he mention him even once in passing? Maybe it's because of this 'staged death' that keeps being bantered about…'_ After reassuring himself, Naruto focused in on Sakumo's words.

"Smart woman you are." Sakumo cordially complimented Ryuuzetsu who remained unperturbed at the compliment. "I can't count how many times my comrades were foolish enough to accept an enemy ninja's words, only to be cut down like cattle when their attention drifted." His facial expression turned pensive only momentarily. "Very well, I'll humor your request. You know of the chakra unique to Hatake clan members?"

Purple-rimmed eyes closed before opening, staring intently upon Sakumo for several moments before curtly nodding. "Then watch and learn youngsters." Slowly, wisps of silvery-white like tendrils extended from his fingertips before disappearing with a huff. Seeing the shocked expression of Naruto made him chuckle. "Not everyday you see an inmate of Houzukijou visibly manipulate and display their chakra eh?"

"How did you manage that old man!?" Naruto eagerly awaited his response.

"Well…" The suspense built until even Ryuuzetsu was curious enough to have the desire to know. "It's a secret method of training the Hatake employ." After roaring in laughter from their dumbstruck and angered expressions he added in a consoling tone, "If we get out of here – relatively unscathed – I will be… willing to assist and even train you youngsters for the duration of the storm brewing in the distance."

After seeing the troubled look in Ryuuzetsu and Maroi's eyes cemented further in Naruto's mind that war was imminent and unavoidable. Even the slowest of Shinobi and Kunoichi in Houzukijou noticed the ominous clouds roiling in the distance, slowly closing in from the distance.

"Continue, Sakumo-san." Ryuuzetsu held out an arm to forestall Naruto's comment and glanced once at him to still any further comments for the moment.

The graying, older Shinobi dramatically sighed at Ryuuzetsu while ignoring the honorific added to his name, "Of course, only you would be able to subdue your boyfriend." Ignoring the spluttering of Naruto, the chuckling of Maroi and the most minute of eye twitches from Ryuuzetsu that signified something dangerous about to occur, he continued on with upturned lips that quickly lowered into a fierce scowl in-between sentences, "That should show proof of who I am. The reason for me residing in Houzukijou has died along with the rotten son of a bitch that slammed my ass in here for refusing to complete the mission." He snarled the entirety of the last sentence, only lessening the harsh tone at the end of his tirade.

Accepting his silence at the end of his tirade Ryuuzetsu took control of the momentary lapse of conversation, "Very well Sakumo-san." She nodded with grace before Sakumo snorted.

"Stop saying my name with 'san'. I'm not to be respected by those who haven't for any reason other than the whispers of fools who spin yarn about the skills of the enemy." Sakumo rather forcefully stated.

Once more Ryuuzetsu nodded acquiescently to the graying man who sat down in the shadows. "Very well Sakumo-san." Sakumo gritted his teeth and refrained from continuing as it would do nothing except fuel her amusement from the upwards quirking lips that he caught Naruto continually glancing at.

_'In-ter-esting.'_ He inwardly grinned to himself. _'Infatuation eh? Maybe not but it seems like he must be something close to her to stare so intently.'_

"Now that the first reason for this meeting is met, we can proceed to the second – informing Sakumo of our current plans."

"I already know the entire plan." Sakumo interjected with a knowing smirk. At the dumfounded glances of the trio – Ryuuzetsu included he added, "It's a wonder at how easily you can maneuver around the innards of Houzukijou when no one thinks to look in the correct place."

_'How did he manage to escape my – albeit limited – sensor abilities under a Genjutsu where the same restrictions apply to him for hours on end?_' Ryuuzetsu marveled at the skill of the White Fang exhibited in overhearing the strategizing her, Naruto and Maroi partook in. Inwardly, she marveled at how lucky they really were to gain the skills of Sakumo Hatake on their side for their flight and subsequent war efforts.

However, one doubt remained in her mind – one that unnerved her to no end that she murmured more to herself than anyone else, "If you were able to escape my notice, was there anyone else who managed to?"

Maroi finally spoke up at that point, "If that's the case, then we will need to hasten our plans instead of waiting another week. We have, at most, two days time which I suggest we take to recuperate from your little courtyard smack-down."

"We haven't been listened in to." "There were no peeping ears." Both Naruto and Sakumo stated at the same time, both staring at each other in shock and amusement respectively.

"And how do you know that Naruto?" Maroi asked in humor, "Was it somehow an affect of absorbing a portion of a stronger being's chakra?"

"Actually, yeah. How'd you know?" Naruto responded with a baffled expression on his face. How did Maroi guess that Naruto taking Kyuubi's power would give him an unintended affect of being able to proverbially 'sniff' out ill intent. "I mean, you three already knew I hold the Kyuubi but when I took a portion of his power for my own, it gave me a side affect that allowed me to… 'Sniff?'" he shrugged. "Out ill intentions from those around me. I have to be in my Bijuu Mode to be able to sense all forms of emotions."

Ryuuzetsu blinked at the information. "That's… amazing actually." Naruto preened under her compliment before she faintly smiled at him before it disappeared leaving Maroi and Sakumo staring at each other with a silent conversation being traded in a lightning-quick transaction.

_'Did you just see what I saw?'_

_'Yeah.'_

_'Is it just me or does Naruto seem to be rather attached to Ryuuzetsu?'_

_'Not just you.'_

It alternated from Maroi to Sakumo as they began chuckling. "Alright little Ryuu-chan, Naruto-chan, why don't we catch up on some much needed recuperation time." Sakumo suggested with a fiendish grin that Maroi seconded, ignoring the unnerving and – quite frankly – disconcerting glare from Ryuuzetsu.

"I agree! Besides, little Naru-chan and Ryuu-chan need some alone time." Maroi grinned before it turned into a fearful expression as both Naruto and Ryuuzetsu glared at him.

"I say we break his legs first."

"Hold him down for me and I'll do worse."

"My pleasure, Ryuuzetsu." Naruto evilly grinned at Maroi, lunging at the Kumo-nin.

That night, the snores were particularly loud before suddenly quieting in that section of the prison.

**XXX-XXX**

**Two Day Later**

"Are you ready for this Naruto?" Ryuuzetsu mouthed to the blond several days after the fallout of the fight subsided. The time resting left Naruto entirely healed up, Ryuuzetsu in proper enough condition to fight, Sakumo being familiarized with the plans laid out and Maroi actually getting much needed sleep. The blond nodded once imperceptibly before being carted away to Solitary Confinement for a stint of seven days with a chortling foreman following closely behind.

Once he was shoved – quite forcefully – into the tiny smooth stone cell, he immediately sat cross-legged and entered the mindscape to work out another deal with the fox.

**XXX-XXX**

"**What is it… ****_Naruto_****?**" Kyuubi sneered to the unperturbed blond who merely sat on the ground in front of the cage.

"I want to propose another deal – one that I've been hoping would be possible with your help should my Sage Mode not cut it in this upcoming fight." Naruto finally spoke up after several moments' deliberation.

At the serious words, Kyuubi's interest was piqued. Anytime his _container_ was serious, it always ended in something interesting to pass the monotony of time in the sewer. "**I'm listening.**"

"Is it possible to use Natural Chakra to fuel the Bijuu Mode, making a hybrid Sage / Bijuu Mode?"

Thinking about it for several moments left the Kitsune murmuring under his breath before finally responding, "**What you're suggesting is damn well impossible-**" He swatted his tail violently against the gate to forestall the upcoming complaints from Naruto before snarling, "**Silence ningen! Now, as I was saying – it is damn well impossible to accomplish without both parties willingly working in tandem through the seal as a medium. I would have to mix the Natural Chakra in your Chakra Coils that contain the power you… ****_Stole_**** from me for you to be able to use a Mode similar to what you are proposing. Not only that, I would have to also willingly take in Natural Chakra through the seal while you are fighting to sustain the hybridized Mode which brings me to my question.**" Kyuubi's grin stretched to cataclysmic proportions as he caught the shocked gaze of his Jinchuuriki.

"**Now what are you going to do for me in return, little Shinobi?**"

"I'll attempt to morph the landscape of the sewer here into something that you would prefer along with entities fitting for that environment to play with when you are bored." Naruto diplomatically approached the situation, attempting to avoid stepping on any feet – paws.

"**AH-HAHAHAHAHA!**" Kyuubi roared in amusement and for a moment, Naruto feared Kyuubi would decline the proposal. "**For a worthless ningen, you certainly pass the dull monotony of my existence in this… ****_Prison_****.**

"**Very well – I will go along with this little agreement provided you follow-up on your end of the bargain and provide me with more amusing entertainment as you have been.**" Kyuubi eagerly began descriptively describing exactly how he wanted the mindscape to appear – a graveyard wreathed in crackling flames that circled in a hazy line that never dissipated, moonlight shining down on the aforementioned flames giving them an ethereal sheen to them. From the graves arose faux appearances of Shinobi, Kunoichi and all of the Bijuu that he either disliked or out-right hated – each with a cohort of minions for Kyuubi to swat around.

Naruto panted from the mental strain he exerted on transitioning the sewers to the graveyard of hell, groans of the deceased already beginning to unnerve the Genin. "There… That's finished… If you want to make them harder, then I'll allow you full reigns to increase their skill level along with their abilities."

"**Hahaha…**" Kyuubi sinisterly chuckled, leaving few parting words to the blond, "**Once the time comes for you to leave the Solitary Confinement, inform me for the battle…**"

Naruto took no prompting from the Kitsune's final words before fleeing the mindscape, attempting to drown out the screams of the damned in the graveyard.

* * *

**So sorry about the long awaited chapter! I know I said end of February but I have an excuse -**

***Ducks under a barrage of thrown tomatoes***

**SORRY! My muse died, I'm sorry! Now that you're done raging at me, I have a few notices I'd like you to read:**

**One) How was the chapter overall? The fight good? Interaction with Kyuubi? Me bringing a dead character rather than making a new one altogether?**

**Two) Am I portraying Ryuuzetsu as to how you expected? It's fun to write her character so I'm wondering if I'm doing her justice.**

**Three) Check out my profile periodically for how far along the chapter is progressing, for both this story and my other one, Rise of Demons.**

**I'm ready for the salvo of flames for bringing Sakumo back, so let's go reviews! I'll take you all on haha!**

**Have a good weekend and a memorable Memorial Weekend!**

**-KuyouFox**


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